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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109755">Can't Deny My Love</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PirateFox/pseuds/Bonnie'>Bonnie (PirateFox)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Critical Role (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Other, Romance, Slow Burn, They/Them Pronouns for Mollymauk Tealeaf, technically slow burn i guess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:15:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30109755</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PirateFox/pseuds/Bonnie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>There stood Caleb Widogast, as if out of their sweetest, dearest dream. He looked domestic, soft, relaxed, and that alone would have been enough to send Mollymauk into a rather inspired and, frankly, tacky limerick about returning home and what a sight for sore eyes the redhead was and the emptiness in their chest he filled instantly. But there was something else. Something that made the hungry creature in their stomach peek out and growl and it made them feel utterly starved.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>A meeting after a long absence.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Mollymauk Tealeaf/Caleb Widogast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>65</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Can't Deny My Love</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>haha surprise, I'm back.</p><p>This started as an attempt at writing a parody of a bodice ripper? And then it got serious and sickly sweet and no one ended up fucking? So, I don’t think I succeed, but I did keep the high level of drama. The story takes place in a very unspecific AU. Everyone still met while doing their own stuff so, while they are very close friends, their lives ended up quite differently. Don't think about it too much, I just wanted to give them a nice endgame after all the stress of recent episodes.</p><p>The title comes from a song by Brandon Flowers, go give it a listen ♥︎.</p><p>As always, be a little patient with me, english is my second language so I mess up sometimes. </p><p>ALSO, March is my birthday month, so you all have to be nice to me. It is the law. </p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p> </p><p>It was a glistening night.</p><p>Snow fell on the winding paths as a chill ran up Mollymauk Tealeaf’s spine, from the tip of their tail, to the base of their skull. Anticipation built in their gut, heavy and warm and delicious. There was a pep to their step that made their loose, plum curls bounce with each stride, a merry, whistled tune falling from their lips.</p><p>It had been a while since they found themself on that path surrounded by tall, stripy trees, bared of their leaves for the winter. It was a miserable road to be on, if they were being completely honest. No cart was small enough to fit. It was too rocky and rough to force a horse, in good conscience, to trot through it. It even looked the part of a proper setting of a horror story, long branches like fingers and dead bushes swallowing the uneven trail at points. And yet, Molly felt not an ounce of fear.</p><p>Nothing would harm them on their path. <em>He</em> would not let anything harm them.</p><p>The simple thought of the wizard brought a smile to their lips. <em>Caleb.</em> It had been too long since they had seen him, constantly stuck in jobs and far away from the Rexxentrum area, let alone the wilderness. As soon as their work was well and done, they had hitched a ride to the north.</p><p>Small hints of magic caught their eye the closer they got to their destination. A silver thread here and there, through which they stomped each time, on purpose. Jars of sunlight hung from a few threes, lighting the heaviest, most covered part of the road. The translucent shadows of various cat-like creatures followed closely at their heels, slinking through the undergrowth, watching, always watching.</p><p>Finally, the road was completely swallowed by the dead brush, cutting off the tiefling’s path with the threat of thorny branches, curling amongst themselves in terrible spires. Any sane traveler would turn the other way, cursing the forest itself, but Molly knew better. They threaded carefully, lifting their coat and bunching it onto their arms to spare the embroidery from work any harm.</p><p>Carefully, they leaned forward, towards a lonely, bare tree among the messy brush, finding the right knot and whispering into it, lips almost brushing the bark as if it were the ear of an old friend: “<em>Aus der Asche</em>.”</p><p>Slowly, almost warily, branches untangled and lifted themselves off the ground, barely missing the tiefling in their slow trudge to clear the path before them, raising and climbing, forming a tall, braided arch, safe to pass through. The change in the path was obvious, from frozen mud to slick, white stone, incredibly clean given the circumstances. Smiling to themself, Molly let their coat fall once again, tail swinging happily from left to right as their walk continued.</p><p>The closer they were, the warmer the forest became, greener, more alive. Trees regained their leaves, vines crawled up, and stars twinkled in the sky, barely visible the deeper they went.</p><p><em>Oh, that is a good one</em>, they thought, tucking an idea safely for later. <em>He’ll like that one.</em></p><p>Soon enough, a low stone wall and an iron gate stopped them from moving on. Another protective barrier, but thankfully not a troublesome one. As soon as they stepped close enough, the doors swung open, groaning, to let them in. Above it all, a metal sign, impossibly neat forge-work forming a loopy, familiar script.</p><p>
  <em>Widogast Academy of Arcane Studies.</em>
</p><p>A bright smile came over them as they stared at the lettering for a moment longer, finally stepping in after several calming breaths. There was no snow in the gardens, all green grass and flowers and families of cats roaming around. At the late hour, no students wandered the small, cozy campus, no one lounged on the benches, no one practiced questionable spells under the shadows of the old oak trees.</p><p>No need. Mollymauk knew their way around.</p><p>Behind them, the gates clicked close, an arcane thrum ensuring the locks were in place once again. Beyond that, wood groaned and rustled back into place, hiding the school from the world.</p><p>A small collection of buildings greeted them, imposing, yet not severe. Ivy ran up the tanned stone walls, wet from the melting snow that never reached the ground, and filled the spaced between the bricks, as if the plants themselves craved the warmth inside. It looked like a town, to someone who didn’t know better, all two-or-three-story buildings with arched windows and gable roofs framed with almost-black, smoked, wood. Amber light emanated from some, but most were dark.</p><p>Molly had passed by Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum once before and, in their humble opinion, with all its bells and whistles, it did not hold a candle to Caleb’s cozy little school. While Soltryce exuded elegance, sprawling gardens perfectly manicured and kept, students poised and ready and ­<em>stiff</em>, Widogast’s was warm. It was fun, and safe, and gentle, and patient, and yet their students were just, if not more, ready than those in the capital. Caleb didn’t just guide them, he nurtured each and every one of their passions for the arcane, of any school, of any kind. Wild ideas and questions and theories were always listened to, and the students <em>loved him </em>for it.</p><p>Molly was proud of him. Incredibly proud. <em>Better let him know.</em></p><p>Picking up the pace, finding the white-stone path that brought them deeper in, they thought of their first meeting. Caleb had been a starving young scholar back then, with nothing but his spellbook to his name. The day they had met had clearly been miserable for the man, who had no shame as he desperately begged their mutual friend, the most unpleasant one, for entry to a big, fancy Cobalt library. A threadbare, too-big coat hung off his shoulders limply, a scraggly beard hid much of his gaunt face, and his gaze barely ever met another’s.</p><p>Even then, Mollymauk had wanted, truly. One look at those eyes, had them reeling for hours after, had them tongue-tied and stumbling and insisting on following the pair of humans to stare at tomes the tiefling wouldn’t even be able to read because <em>what else am I going to do in the meantime, Beau, fuck myself?</em></p><p>Oh, they were in so much trouble since that fleeting meeting. Then again, so was Caleb because, despite his professional air and his clear priorities, he had found his gaze wandering towards Mollymauk all through that lovely day. There had been a tension between them since then. A delicious, burning pressure, a dance they danced around each other, orbiting impossibly close and then walking away, looking back longingly, wishing to crash again. But it was complicated. Unaccepted.</p><p>Molly loathed the word. <em>Unaccepted.</em></p><p>A respected wizard and a fortune-teller turned mercenary.</p><p>Scoffing, they walked faster, ignoring the bigger buildings they passed, lovely as they were in the moonlight, with their flowering ivy running all the way up to the heavily slanted rooftops and curling around the wooden details framing the gigantic windows. They knew where to go. No one and nothing would ever keep them away. Not from <em>Caleb</em>. No one but the wizard himself could send them away and, hopefully, they could make him understand that fact tonight.</p><p>Tucked between two bigger buildings – dormitories, Caleb has told them once – was a smaller, more cottage-like structure, tan stone and dark roof like every other building on campus, a tall metal structure with winding baubles and rings and gears sitting at the highest point, gleaming in the moonlight.</p><p>A home they adored yet wasn’t their own.</p><p>A creaking sound called their attention, heavy wooden door opening by itself and revealing the warm interior of the enchanted abode, much larger on the inside, of course. With no hesitation and giddy with excitement, Mollymauk strolled inside the impossibly tall vestibule, door slamming close behind them. Loud. <em>A little</em> too loud. A sign or not, it did not deter them. Around them stained glass windows shot multicolored light through the room, a perfect spotlight impossible to resist.</p><p>“Darling dearest,” the sang, twirling just once to enjoy the color over them. “I’ve arrived, my heart!”</p><p>A chair scrapping against stone floor. “<em>Hier,</em>” they heard from the next room, a casual study, and <em>what a song it was.</em> As if pulled by their heartstrings, Mollymauk rushed forward, feeling like dancing, like gliding, and across the dark-wood threshold, towards their love.</p><p>Oh, was the Moonweaver smiling upon them.</p><p>There stood Caleb Widogast, as if out of their sweetest, dearest dream. He looked domestic, soft, relaxed, and that alone would have been enough to send Mollymauk into a rather inspired and, frankly, tacky limerick about returning home and what a sight for sore eyes the redhead was and the emptiness in their chest he filled instantly. But there was something else. Something that made the hungry creature in their stomach peek out and growl and it made them feel utterly <em>starved. </em></p><p>Caleb, wonderful, beautiful, stunning, <em>Caleb,</em> wasn’t wearing much.</p><p>The first thing Molly noticed was the house robe, soft and silken, muted blue, held only by a tie around the wizard’s waist, tantalizingly loose. The slightest of tugs would be more than enough to undo the knot. It didn’t do much to keep the garment close either, allowing them to appreciate the smattering of freckles running down, down, <em>down</em> Caleb’s chest and beyond what they could see. Resting against his sternum laid a glowing amber stone, sharing a silver chain with a crude eye pendant. His pants were loose, soft and, while they couldn’t exactly see it yet, they could imagine them sliding off the wizard’s hips so, so easily.</p><p>As the powerless mortal they were, Mollymauk stepped forward. What else would they do? Their love stood there in the warm glow of the nearby fireplace, barely dressed, hair loose in gentle waves and wild, almost-curls.</p><p>“Mollymauk,” he exhaled, as the tiefling reached him, hands falling on his waist and back, against the dip of his spine, crowding him back against the nearby table.</p><p>As always, Caleb was warm under their fingers, especially with only the thin garment between them. He was a creature of flame himself after all, a hearth fire of a man. Their fingers tapped and tapped along each of his ribs, the lightest of touches, and they smiled, leaning in to crush their lips together, finally, after months of agony and cold.</p><p>And then they were stopped.</p><p>A hand came to cover their face and pushed back, as far as it could go. Between Caleb’s fingers, he could see the man, dazzling blue eyes thoroughly unimpressed. “I keep telling you that is not going to work on me,” he said, nose scrunched in a heatless sneer. “Take your half-assed charms and shove them where they fit.”</p><p>Mollymauk simply grinned, grabbing his wrist, gentle and soft, just long enough to kiss his knuckles. “What was I supposed to do, dear?” Caleb took his hand back, hurriedly closing the loose robe tighter around himself and <em>what a shame that was.</em> “Coming to find you, waiting for me, wearing that…”</p><p>“I was not waiting for you.”</p><p>Their tail swung gently, from side to side, in a loose figure eight. “Ah, but you knew we had a meeting today, didn’t you?”</p><p>The wizard pushed himself up and away from the table, stepping around Mollymauk. From one of his pockets, a piece of twine was produced, with which he began to tie his hair in a loose, low braid. “You got the day wrong,” he said, as he walked all the way to the other side of the room, towards a very unorganized desk. A notebook was procured and opened and leafed through. “Horisal the fourth,” he read. “Morning research session with Professor Thelyss. Horisal the fifth, evening meeting with Mollymauk Tealeaf.”</p><p>“You met Essek today?”</p><p>With a groan, Caleb slapped his notebook close, turning towards them, arms crossed over his chest. “Did I meet with the only Dunamancy teacher in the academy? Yes. What does that even matter?”</p><p>Mollymauk, by then, could clearly see something was not right. They refused to use the word ‘wrong,’ but something was definitely… Not. Right. Perhaps their daring, debonair entrance had been too much? <em>Shit.</em> They lifted their hands, placating, in defeat. “It doesn’t. It doesn’t, dear, doesn’t matter.”</p><p>With a huff, Caleb pushed away from his desk, a pile of books on his arms, and walked around the study, placing tomes here and there, in which order, Molly could only guess. “Well then,” he said, back towards them, obviously on purpose. “What brings you here, Mollymauk?”</p><p>They tried hard not to choke on their own spit or clear their throat at the accusatory tone, shrugging their ornate coat instead, walking towards a nearby hook to hang it. “You, of course.”</p><p>A book fell from Caleb’s grasp. “Stop it.” Before the man to bend down to get it, the tiefling scurried forward, stooping low to get it. Triumphantly, they presented it to the wizard, who took it and quickly placed it in the last available space within the bookshelf. “Be serious. Do you need something, anything, pertaining the arcane?”</p><p>“No.” Before they could say more, Caleb turned and walked towards another table, brimming with books like every other surface in the room, in every room, probably. “I am being serious.” They hurried after the man, placing a hand on his shoulder and waiting for him to turn to look at them before continuing. “You.”</p><p>There was something in his eyes that Mollmauky did not like. They were beautiful as always, of course, blue and glowing with arcane potential, but something dark hid behind them, something Caleb clearly wanted to hide, as he turned away. “That is not…” A lovely pink hue graced his cheekbones and Molly had to bite the inside of their cheek to control their glee. It wouldn’t do at that moment. “Stop it, I don’t… did not…”</p><p>“Darling, come on.” The tiefling placed another hand on the wizard, on his arm, carefully turning him around. “Why wouldn’t I come all the way here just to see those beautiful eyes of yours, hm?”</p><p>The moment that statement left their lips, Molly knew they had said the wrong thing. In a second, thing changed, barreling towards <em>bad.</em> Caleb stared, hard and unflinching, directly into their red-on-red eyes. There was no smile, no glare, not even a twitch of his brows, and that was <em>wrong.</em> Not not-right. <em>Wrong</em>. The dark thing in his eyes came to the surface, and Mollymauk hated it instantly.</p><p>It was pain.</p><p>Stepping back, Caleb left their reach, and turned, house robe flapping open, knot finally undoing itself, but the tiefling could not even bring themself to appreciate the sight. Caleb was walking away from them, towards the arch, into the vestibule, and the dark-wood stairs leading up.</p><p>“You tell me,” he said, looking forward, as he began to climb, candles sputtering dead and dark in his wake up the stairs.</p><p>As Molly chased him, full on sprinting up the stairs, as they passed stained glass windows and ornate bronze braziers, they were reminded of the kind of life Caleb led.</p><p>He had fought tooth and nail for all he had, they knew. Constantly underestimated and dismissed. Gaining an inch, only to lose a mile the next day. Days of work went unappreciated and overlooked. The man himself had been brushed away countless times, and yet, he never stopped. Not for a day. He had walked through a pit of snakes with nothing to sustain him but pure <em>spite </em>and he had made it. Finally, <em>finally</em>, he had risen. It had all been worth it, in the end. The world was better, safer, for countless children with a knack for the arcane, because a single stubborn wizard had found the right angle in a hopeless situation.</p><p>Either way, it had scarred him. It had never left him, that feeling of having to do more, of everything being an exchange, of everyone wanting something from him, to <em>use</em> him. <em>If she isn’t using me, why would she want me around</em>, Caleb had told them once, about another piece of shit Archmage, DeRogna, seeking his company. If he thought that of Molly…</p><p><em>No,</em> they hissed to themself. That would not do.</p><p>A door slammed open before Caleb, an answer to a slight flick of his wrist. Molly barely made it inside before the door banged shut with just as much force. It was Caleb’s bedroom, covered wall-to-wall with bookshelves crammed with his life’s work. The only other pieces of furniture were a plush bed and a side table with a pitcher of water on top. No glass.</p><p>“Caleb,” they called, reaching the man, hesitating to touch him. They could see his shoulders trembling. “Caleb, listen to me…” They forced the anxiety out of their voice, kept it gentle, steady, but it proved difficult, and Caleb was smart. Too smart, too perceptive, since always, he would hear it no matter what, but it did not stop them from trying. “I didn’t come here seeking…”</p><p>“Then what do you want?” Caleb almost screamed, voice raw. “What do you want? You called for a <em>business</em> meeting, so what <em>is</em> this business, Mollymauk Tealeaf? I’ll give it to you!” He turned towards them, face hot with either shame or anger, they could not tell, and began to back away in small, shuffling steps, bare feet nearly catching on one of the many rugs cushioning the floor. “Research? A potion? Teleportation?” Caleb kept backing away from them, hands clenched into fists on his open house robe, ruining its pristine silken shine. Back he went, until the back of his knees collided against the edge of his bed and he crumbled onto it, face contorting in a horrible mix of anguish and understanding. A terrible thought left his lips, almost a hiss. “A fuck?”</p><p>Time stopped, for a whole second, as Caleb’s hands flew to cover his mouth, willing the words back inside, instant regret, willing to risk them choking him on the way down. That <em>hurt.</em></p><p>Mollymauk did not register what they were doing. Not until they had reached Caleb, hands cradling his jaw, making the wizard look them in the eye. “I would never,” they told him, ducking down and pressing their foreheads together. “I would never demand anything from you, love, much less…”</p><p>The wizard looked up at them, eyes wide and glossy, ashamed and still in pain. He lifted his hand to trace the peacock feathers down their throat, as he whispered. “I know, Molly. I didn’t mean that. I know. I am sorry”</p><p>“There is more here, isn’t there,” they asked him, petting his copper hair, brushing it back, trying not to get lost in the softness. “There is more you are not telling me.” Caleb looked away, leaning in to tuck his head beneath Mollymauk’s chin, trying to hide. They let him, for a full minute, carding their fingers through the hair, following the curve of his skull, but did not linger beyond that.</p><p>They kneeled before him, scooting to fit between his knees, and reached for his hands. Caleb did not stop them as their lips glided over each of his knuckles planting kisses as they went, looking down at Molly, dazed and with his eyelashes worryingly damp. With a quivering sigh, the tiefling bowed their head, pressed their forehead against the back of the wizard’s perpetually ink stained hands.</p><p>Caleb’s pain was like a knife straight through the heart, deadly and sharp. It killed them. Had there been tears on his freckled cheeks, Mollymauk suspected they would be in agony already, writhing and trashing and dying at his feet.</p><p>“Say but a word, my dear, and I will leave you and not bother you again,” they said, tilting their chin up to meet the wizard’s gaze. “Call me once again, and I shall return. Anything, <em>anything</em>, to spare you any grief, dear love.” They were desperate. Desperate to understand, desperate to fix. Desperate to get their feelings out of their chest and into Caleb’s hands so they could display it like the glittering pearls and diamonds he kept close at hand for his magic, for the wizard to examine and study and arrange and keep and see and<em> know</em>. “Do what you will, but speak to me, Caleb, please.”</p><p>His face fell at their words. Caleb freed his hands, slow and hesitant, for a heart-stopping moment, and then went to caress Mollymauk’s cheek, fingertips brushing the skin under their left eye. “You were gone long, Mollymauk,” he whispered, “you were gone long.”</p><p>“<em>Caleb…</em>”</p><p>He shook his head, silencing them as he went on explaining. “I have a terribly accurate memory, you know this. Vivid. Too vivid, and I’ve seen too much.” His voice was calm, low, Zemnian accent heavier than usual. “Even worse, I also have a horribly active imagination, and a clear tendency towards…” A chuckle, humorless and tired. “Well. The gallows, what else.”</p><p>“First I was worried,” he said, petting Molly’s curls back, eyes darting over their face, to their horns, the bridge of their nose, each eye, <em>checking</em>. “One morning the thought came to me that you could be hurt, and it would not leave me all day. By night, I had worked myself into thinking you were <em>dead.</em>” The last word was said with a sneer, like the mere concept had offended the man. “I dreamt of you, laying on the dirt somewhere, all alone, growing cold, and me, in this tower, never knowing <em>where</em>.”</p><p>His hands found the baubles hanging off their horns, a golden sun twinkling in the candle light. “Beauregard visited me a few days after that. She mentioned running into you, in Trostenwald, drinking terrible ale and you giving her an annoyingly accurate card reading. I felt so relieved. I got happy.” Caleb’s brown drew together, and he gazed away, towards the floor. “But I am a selfish man, Mollymauk. Terrible. It didn’t last, that relief.”</p><p>“I hated you, for a whole day. A whole 24 hours, I hated you, because I thought you simply weren’t coming back. Because you didn’t want to.” It was a terrible, horrible thing to think about, and Caleb’s anguish and shame were obvious. He would not meet their eyes again, stubbornly memorizing details of the carpeted floor. “It did not last either, I couldn’t hate you for any longer, you are… so I hated myself instead. Because it was my fault, wasn’t it? Because I was not giving you anything and I kept being difficult and…” He curled forward, into himself, wanting to hide once again. “And why would you… I don’t give you <em>anything</em>, why would you…”</p><p>Molly didn’t let him, grabbing his face, hands planted over his cheeks, gently turning his head to make him look. “Caleb,” they said, forcefully, then went on quietly. “Caleb, darling, no. No.” They pushed up, standing only enough to settle on the wizard’s lap, straddling his hips, wanting to be as close as possible. “I’m sorry. I am so sorry.” Their eyes met, finally, as they both leaned forward, lips barely an inch away brushing as they spoke. “My dear, my love, nothing could ever keep me from coming back to you. I never meant to be gone so long, Caleb, I never meant to hurt you, to make you think those things. I swear, on my past grave and the future one.”</p><p>A tired hum. “Do not talk about graves now.”</p><p>“I swear on my cards. I swear on my coat. I swear on the Moonweaver herself, on Catha and Ruidus and all of their moonshine.” Mollymauk leaned back, slightly. "Nothing could ever keep me from coming back to you, starlight.”</p><p>A small laugh tore itself from Caleb’s throat. “<em>Starlight</em>,” he repeated. “That one is new.”</p><p>“I came up with it on my way here,” they said, with, perhaps, a bit too much pride. Out of the dozen pet named they used with Caleb, ‘starlight’ tasted especially sweet on their lips. “Do you like it better that <em>Spitfire</em>?”</p><p>“<em>Ja</em>.” A smile that reached his eyes, finally. “Starlight is better.”</p><p>“If you say so, sunshine.”</p><p>“That one is just inaccurate.”</p><p>“Seems just on point to me, my flame.” A groan answered them. “Light of my life?” Then a hum, at the same time the wizard turned his head, in a half-hearted attempt to hide the lovely blush creeping up, all the way to his ears. Molly snapped their fingers, as if trying to think of new names. The truth was they had at least a hundred in mind, but Caleb did not need to know that detail. “My sun and stars?” They snapped one more time, loudly, smiling as if they’ve come up with the most brilliant and dazzling of plans, then leaned in to plant kisses along the man’s jaw. “Fire of my loins.” Not a question.</p><p>“Mollymauk.” The heat from Caleb’s scolding was lost on a startled laugh. “<em>Nein</em>.”</p><p>The tiefling burst into a cackle, nose scrunched up and eyes crinkling, in pure glee. Gently, they grabbed his head, surging forward to press their foreheads together again. They loved being that close, unable to resist the opportunity, watching the tiniest flecks of hazel in Caleb’s eyes. “I will stick with ‘darling dearest’, then.” They nuzzled, as a cat would, feeling their noses brush together, relishing in the blush that became brighter and brighter.</p><p>“I’ll survive that one,” said Caleb, softly grazing his lips against the tiefling’s and that alone set their heart, their whole being, ablaze.</p><p>As close as they were, Molly could see details, so many, that their head spun just a little, in the best of ways. Caleb’s eyelashes were blonde and long, transparent almost. The skin under his eyes was permanently bruised purple and red from what were, surely, hundreds of sleepless nights and a million books, a million stories. Freckles dotted his cheekbones, his strong nose, his forehead, a smattering of constellations that seems painted by the Moonweaver herself. Ruddy stubble, but a shadow still, dusted his jaw. A tiny little scar, nothing but a shaving nick, marred his upper lip and Molly wanted nothing more than to kiss it better.</p><p>“Have mercy on me today, darling,” they whispered, “Could I stay with you? To talk, to listen, to do everything or nothing, with you? I am a day early, aren’t I?” Molly barely had to move to bring their lips together once again, briefly. “That is all I want from you. Your presence, your being, your voice, even if I don’t understand half the things you say, my love.” Caleb snickered at that, nodding.</p><p>“<em>Lieber Himmel</em>, stay,” he said, and that was all they needed. Both of them surged forward, lips meeting fully, first tender and soft, simply pressing into each other, enjoying the closeness and the warmth. Then the hunger got involved, the blazing hot need for more, and Molly pushed and Caleb followed, falling on his back and allowing them to press him into the plush mattress. Only the need for air stopped them.</p><p>Planting their hands on the cushion, Molly pushed themself up, not far, only what was strictly necessary to smile down at their love, flushed and relaxed and beautiful beneath them. “I take it you missed me, then?”</p><p>Rolling his eyes, Caleb pulled at the tiefling’s tunic, untucking it from their tights and sneaking his hands beneath the fabric, tracing perfectly memorized scars with the tips of his fingers. “You have to understand, Mollymauk,” he said, making them shiver. “I did not just miss you while you were gone. Everything was… Nothing was enough. The world wasn’t enough. And when I heard you were on your way...”</p><p>“So,” they started, smiling with too much fang and much too satisfied. “You <em>were</em> waiting for me.” Caleb leaned in, to give them a kiss, quick and sweet. Molly smiled wider. “Technically.” An even deeper kiss followed that, much heavier and with a lot more tongue, sloppier. When they separated, it was to panting breaths and, still, a satisfied smirk from the tiefling. “Was that to shut me up?”</p><p>“<em>Ja</em>.” Another quick kiss was placed over their lips, almost a smack but not quite. Caleb leaned back down and smiled, looking up at them and Molly could finally enjoy that blessed house robe, easily fitting their hands under it as Caleb arched his back off the bed to give them easy access. “But I also did miss you, you absolute menace.”</p><p>Their fingers danced, tapping and counting each of his ribs for the second time that night, their other hand traveling down, grazing the bumps of his spine, down into the dip of his back. Caleb shivered, goosebumps up his arms, a breathy, lovely sigh escaping between his lips as his hips twitched under Molly.</p><p>Heaven.</p><p>“Mollymauk,” Caleb whispered, mostly sighed. The most divine of sounds.</p><p>“Yes, darling?”</p><p>They looked expectantly at the wizard below them, breath hitching as one hand traveled from their hip, <em>down,</em> grazing their thigh and all the way to the high cuff of their boot, slipping under the hem. With a tentative tug and a nervous bite to his lower lip, Caleb’s brows furrowed as he whispered. “I have no idea how to remove your boots.”</p><p>Mollymauk stopped. And then giggled. And then full on cackled, tail lashing out in smacks against the nearby pillows as they threw their head back. The wizard pouted, beet red from the tip of their ears to their chest, only for laughter to bubble up as well. Soon enough they were both doubled over, falling side by side over the rumpled sheets. Somehow, Molly found themself wrapping their arms around Caleb’s shoulder, pulling the man closer.</p><p>Between laughs, their lips pressed together once again, their teeth clacked once or twice, their noses bumped painfully, and it was bliss.</p><p>Caleb, wonderful, beautiful, stunning, crazy, utter asshole, complete menace of a man, <em>Caleb,</em> kissed them. First on the lips, deep and hard and hungry, and wonderfully solid and there. Eventually, the wizard moved up, to press a kiss at the base of Molly’s right horn, hair catching for a moment against one of the many hanging charms, pulling a quiet, fond laugh out of him. Molly had never felt more wonderful.</p><p>The kisses continued, trailing down, over their eyebrows, gently atop both their eyelids, and then all the way from their brow to the tip of their nose and over their lips again, quick and sweet. Not for the first time in their short life, Molly thought that a perfect memory would be worth the pain, if only to keep that moment safely locked away, to return to, again and again.</p><p>A hand wrapped itself around the tiefling’s heart right then. For a single moment, they expected a crush, painful and possessive, but there was none of that. Instead, it was gently held and set ablaze, warm and tender, cupped like the most precious of treasures, and they were <em>full</em>, for once. “Oh, my flame,” they said before brushing their lips together. “My spark, my hearth fire.”</p><p>Eventually, they simply laid together, side by side. Next to them, Caleb was calm, smiling contently, head nuzzling against the pillow as he got comfortable. Mollymauk went to free his hair from the braid he had made earlier, now a tangled mess. Neither one of them seemed to have the slightest intention of moving. “Just this is fine, right?”</p><p>A smile answered them, along with a barely-there nod. “I couldn’t imagine better, Mollymauk.”</p><p>A wicked smile came over the tiefling. “We’ll see about that, my love.” They planted a kiss on his forehead, done fixing his hair, turning and scooting higher, until they were able to press their cheek against the crown of Caleb’s head. “Some other day.”</p><p>They would fall asleep like that, the first of many times, a tangle of limbs, safe and warm. None of what had happened that night had been the plan, beyond their triumphant entrance, but Molly wouldn’t change anything about it. Whatever twists and issues had brought them to that moment, sharing Caleb Widogast’s bed, his warm breath puffing against their throat, head tucked safely against their shoulder, Molly would treasure forever.</p><p>Even if their boots were still on.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Fin</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>There it is! What do you think?</p><p>Thank you very much for reading and thank you especially to Chai-Teafling for the encouragement! I came very close to scrapping this at one point and their advice really helped me ♥︎.</p><p>Find me on tumblr as moonbonniewrites! </p><p>Stay safe!<br/>-Bonnie</p></blockquote></div></div>
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